SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. Of course, I provide part-time CTO services. So, I wanted to use this post to make it official - we are offering free startup CTO consulting sessions. Or how are you funding the next few milestones? What Is This?

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

TechEmpower

JULY 24, 2023

” Of course, it’s more complicated than just checking boxes on a question list. Still, if you’re a business leader and your developers haven’t asked you these questions, look for a Fractional CTO to help navigate the critical early stage of development. How are you funding this? Administer users?

Develop 520

Develop Development Technical Review SEO 520

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ? He needed some kind of CTO and as well Developers.

CTO Hire 241

CTO Hire CTO Coach Equity Develop 241

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2013

According to Eric Robison, the firm's CEO, the funding round will go towards increasing the firm's global reach and expanding content. Lynda.com offers up online education courses on things like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Excel, AutoCAD, and much more. Meritech Capital also participated in the funding.

Funding 178

Funding Santa Barbara ReachLocal Southern California 178

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 26, 2022

The company built its own point-of-sale system and commerce APIs in-house, allowing them to deliver a “seamless” customer experience, former Glossier CTO Bryan Mahoney said in 2018. Founded in 2014, Glossier is widely touted as one of the earliest breakout successes of the DTC model, and raised its Series E last July at a $1.8

CTO Hire 197

CTO Hire Layoffs Commerce Email 197

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2012

Hiring seems to be the preferred use of seed funds (by investors and founders), whereas I'd prefer a focus on customer acquisition. In many cases, during my Free Startup CTO Consulting Session with them, we discuss where they are in in the process. The startup founder is definitely not ready to hire a CTO. Far from it.

CTO Hire 205

CTO Hire Outsource Development CTO Coach Develop 205

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've talked about that in lots of other posts, so you can visit some of these to help determine what you specifically need: Startup CTO or Developer Startup Software Development – Do Your Homework Before You Develop Anything Key ingredients in the equation are: How complex is the system? The good news is that likely is not what they want.

CTO Hire 211

CTO Hire CTO Coach Startup Equity 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

Of course, to be able to use this kind of formula, you will need to be able to determine how much impact the person will have and figure out a valuation. Of course, all of that assumes that the early employee does make an impact. Suppose further that he's going to cost $60k a year in salary and overhead, x 1.5 = $90k total.

Equity 391

Equity CTO Hire Startup Examples 391

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

One of the hardest things to know when you’re new to fund raising is what you’re supposed to send to an investor, when and will they keep your information confidential. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game. As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. whether they invest or not.

Venture Capital 261

Venture Capital Slides Email Funding 261

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have neither, and choose to approach an investor, you will get no attention, and probably never again get a shot at funding with that investor. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.

Funding 112

Funding Entrepreneur Startup CTO Hire 112

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Amount of venture funding provided. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 99

Equity Patents Startup CTO Hire 99

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

The first check I wrote was just over 10 years ago into a company called Invoca who just announced a new $56 million in funding led by Scott Hilleboe at HIG Growth Partners. We not only have our Series A funds that can write $500k?—?$15 15 million first checks but we also have three growth funds.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). and Microsoft had become.

CTO Hire 309

CTO Hire Organization Google Course 309

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2020

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Amount of venture funding provided. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Startup 174

Startup Equity Patents CTO Hire 174

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

.” When Elon Musk set out to build SpaceX he wasn’t greeted with enthusiasm from the space community not used to having a private enterprise challenge the government funded space exploration of NASA. Of course the naysayers are out again. If anything I’d like to fund 5 more teams and projects this ambitious.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Course Software Review 417

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Michael Wong: I was previously CTO of an agency called Breakthrough Ads. My cofounder, Steven Elliott, was CTO of a company doing artificial intelligence and automated chat technology. We had worked together for six years before starting MergeLocal, which came about on the golf course. We're also funding it out of pocket.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

” Of course I agree with this. Of course by the next quarter if I felt ripped off I could advocate for 7% or maybe ops requirements needed to be upped to 20% for one quarter. Of course we fancy ourselves as the best sales people in the company. And of course the VP of Sales had the ultimate call.

Startup 150

Startup Sales CTO Coach Course 150

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Innovation and Geography I ran across a post in Read/Write Web - Does Location Matter in Web Innovation? eHarmongy) as an acting CTO. Of course, thats probably even more true in Silicon Valley. He has twenty years’ experience as a CTO.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2014

Of course triangulation is a mathematics term that is used in sailing and other activities to help you better navigate when you don’t have your bearings. On teams I have a framework for tech teams “ CTO vs. VP Eng ” or on sales I have “ Journeymen, Mavericks & Superstars ” 5. Fund raising ?

Startup 407

Startup Framework CTO Coach Sales 407

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

“Getting the band back together” doesn’t stop for me with just our fund. So he went on to become the CFO of Fab through their growth years dealing with warehousing, inventory management, facilities, CAC/LTV analyses and of course fund raising. Sometimes life presents that opportunity, sometimes it does not.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Startup CTO Coach Venture Capital 320

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Of course, one of the best ideas around this is to have Negative Customer Acquisition Costs. Do I Need a Co-Founder: The 90/50 Rule of Startup Founders - FairSoftware's Blog , February 1, 2010 Another post that relates to my recent post on CTO Founders and Cofounders. Great stuff. " The emotions around sunk costs run deep.

Pricing 150

Pricing Acquisition Customer Custom 150

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. How are you funding this? What level of funding do you currently have? It needs to be a conversation. Tell me about the business.

Develop 396

Develop Development Startup SEO 396

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2010

They often make great team members such as head of products, CTO, head of sales, CFO, etc. If your idea is so amazing that it warrants my hard-earned angel money or the money of my LP investors from our fund then why should I take a risk on you if you won’t take a risk on yourself? I’ll help you raise the fund. Why should I be?

Entrepreneur 293

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital CTO Hire 293

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 4, 2011

Almost every day I'm talking to early stage startup founders (see Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions ) about what they plan to do. Of course, it's way more complex than just these questions. How are you funding this? What level of funding do you currently have? It needs to be a conversation. Tell me about the business.

Develop 384

Develop Development Startup SEO 384

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

We generally have a policy to only fund entrepreneurs once the first version of a product has shipped or it near to shipping. So I asked Ethan to build his product first and then we would fund. I asked him if he would consider raising $3m in stead and we would put up most of the funds. We like to be able to see the concept.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire GRP Partners 359

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding, and delivering results. Amount of venture funding provided. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so I see no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 95

Equity CTO Hire Patents Startup 95

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Of course, I immediately gave him the whole spiel on Visible Networking and Steve was totally game to make our networking visible. I have about 11 years in the technology sector including roles doing market research, sales and product development. Of course, it's probably harder to find these folks. Wow, great questions.

Los Angeles 179

Los Angeles Product Angel Startup 179

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 20, 2013

Chris Johnson and his partner Tarek Pertew were once startup guys who founded a software company in New York, but within one year they lost their CTO three times. And on the flipside, there are so many companies that get funding and are growing, yet it is really hard to figure out who they are.”. technology sector.

Startup 76

Startup UCLA Los Angeles SpaceX 76

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

How are you funding this? What level of funding do you currently have? Of course, we’ll also discuss the details of the product itself. Of course, that’s the really fun, interesting, challenging work. Tell me about the business. What are the big milestones you have as a business? What’s different, special here?

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

And of course on Twitter I’ve seen the Tweets, ReTweets and superlatives on what a great post it is. LPs (the people who invest in VC funds) want to know what “hot” deals you’re in. In a pool of 25-30 investments in a VC fund the goal is to have 2-3 huge outliers. Ryan Lissack is the CTO of Maker Studios.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

If you have existing investors of course you feel a degree of comfort knowing that they would likely have your back in tough times — but of course you never really know. Fund raising is hard for everybody. Fund raising is like a funnel where you need a bunch of potential leads in the top end and only a few will reach the bottom.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2013

The Internet doesn't work right, and is broken, and without a CDN, you can't do what you need to do if you're the CTO of a large website. James Segil: There's a couple of things to consider with growth, around what does it take to fund a company's growth. It's a mission critical IT service that website owners need.

CTO Hire 248

CTO Hire Content Networking Web 248

SoCal CTO

MAY 19, 2008

Andrew Warner from Mixergy posted - Before Looking for Funding, Get an Advisor. He recommends that early stage companies get input from people who know the funding process, know the vertical, etc. Of course, it's sometimes hard to find advisors. That's great advice.

Startup 150

Startup Mixergy eHarmony Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 4, 2014

Thus the real discussion must start with who will be doing the work, providing the funding and delivering results. Amount of venture funding provided. The CTO of many technical startups was the original founder. The value in a startup is all about tangible results, so there is no equity value in the idea alone.

Equity 104

Equity Startup Patents CTO Hire 104

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

Good entrepreneurs can admit when their course of action was wrong and learn from it. You’re sales person is getting blocked by the CTO who says she shouldn’t go above him but the CTO isn’t approving the deal. They move the ball forward every day. They are quick to spot their mistakes and correct.

Entrepreneur 414

Entrepreneur Technical Review Slides CTO Coach 414

socalTECH

MARCH 8, 2013

We now have seven companies, and have our own venture fund as well, and we'll be doing four or five for the next few years. We have our own small seed fund, which we trigger to fund that company and hire a team, a CEO and a CTO. On the customer side, we have companies like Samsung, GE, Kaiser Permanente, Accenture.

Incubator 208

Incubator Startup CTO Hire Ideas 208

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2017

He's the former CTO at Stocktwits, and he did the analysis and found out a lot of stuff. We continued to enhance our software to make it easier for them to follow the steps to cash in on credits, and of course, by following those steps they were able to predictably close more deals. How's the startup funded?

Sales 145

Sales Startup Email Tool 145